Company installs temporary buildings at UNT as part of University Union project

Consider the modular building. Most people associate the idea with
portable classrooms behind a school: simple structures with an air-conditioning
unit sticking out the side.

The
structures being installed by Ramtech Modular Buildings for the University of
North Texas defy the stereotype of portables, and someone inside the building
wouldn’t be able to tell that it isn’t permanent, said Steve Sickman, Ramtech’s
director of marketing.

“People
are very, very pleasantly surprised at what the buildings are going to be,” he
said of the UNT project. “From the outside, to the trained eye, you’ll
recognize it. But when you get inside, it’s going to have all the amenities
that a permanent building has.”

Ramtech
is constructing three modular buildings, which will be used until 2015 when the
University Union project is completed. From this fall until the fall of 2015,
there will be no offices operating in the union — all are being relocated.

For $3.5
million, Ramtech is constructing and installing three buildings: one for the
College of Visual Arts and Design, one for counseling and higher education, and
a third for the dance and theater department.

Segments
of the buildings are constructed at the manufacturer’s headquarters in
Mansfield and are made with the same materials and care as a permanent
structure, Sickman said.

There are
separate state and federal requirements and regulations for the buildings, plus
they have to be able to travel on the highway to the site, so they are built to
be solid and safe, he said.

“When
customers come out [to the facility] to understand and see it, they really
reach a comfort level that this works, and [realize] ‘This is not what I
thought modular buildings were,’” Sickman said.

The
buildings are transported in pieces to the job site, where they’ll sit on a
foundation of concrete blocks. Wooden steps and ramps lead up to the entrances,
and the entire exterior looks like stucco.

Inside,
the main floors are vinyl composition tiles, with carpet tiles inside rooms and
offices. The walls are outfitted with vinyl-covered gypsum. Heating and cooling
units are located in the ceiling.

“Most
people walk into these buildings and, once you get inside, it’s going to be
finished off in a way that you feel like you’re in a permanent structure,”
Sickman said. “There are offices that will function just like they did in the
buildings they came from.”

These are custom-built based on a rendering by an architect to best
meet UNT’s needs, said Don Lynch, director of system facilities administration.

“The
modulars are still custom-built. It’s not like when you buy a car and you say
you want that one,” Lynch said. “We’re getting exactly what we had expected,
and it’s coming along just fine.”

The
project is approaching the final portion of the installation phase — one site
where the College of Visual Arts and Design and counseling and higher education
buildings are located is completed, and the third building is 50 percent
complete.

Once the offices move out in 2015, both Sickman and Lynch said the
buildings will still be in good condition for continued use.

“Now,
it’s not a 100-year building, but it will serve our purpose and could last for
some use — I’m not saying the current use — but could last 15, 20, 25 years as
viable buildings to occupy and utilize,” Lynch said.

JENNA DUNCAN can be reached at 940-566-6889
and via Twitter at @JennaFDuncan.

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